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Helios
In Greek Mythology In Greek mythology, the sun was personified as Helios. Helios was the All-Seeing Titan of the sun and was called upon witness when needed by the gods. As a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and brother of the Titanesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn. The names of these three were also the common Greek words for sun, dawn and moon.Helios was imagined as a handsome god crowned with the shining aureole of the sun, who drove the Sun Chariot across the sky each day to earth-circling Oceanus and through the world-ocean returned to the East at night. Homer described Helios's chariot as drawn by his Fire Steeds. Still later, the horses were given fiery names: Pyrois, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon. Even though he is a Titan, Helios doesn't take on the form of his parents. Because of his normal size, most people do not relize that he is indeed a Titan. As time passed, Helios was increasingly identified with the god of light, Apollo, but the two remained separate beings. Helios' mythological Roman equivalent is Sol. In the God of War Series The First Titanomachy In Atlas' flashback of the Great War, Helios can be seen fighting alongside Hermes with the Titans. Also two Helios statues can be found in God of War II. The first is the great Colossus of Rhodes, which, after being brought to life by Zeus, Kratos fought and destroyed. The second was found in the Garden of the Gods, as Kratos travelled through the Palace of the Fates. Helios briefly appears in person at the end, during the council of the gods on Olympus, along with Hermes, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. He is one of the first witnesses of the rescued Titans ascending Mount Olympus, led by Gaia and a vengeful Kratos. Wager with the Gods Helios appeared in the gods' wager, with a champion of his own. Although endowed with powers similar to Helios' own, his champion was killed in battle by Kratos. Helios' Abduction Helios was kidnapped by Atlas by orders of Persephone, who felt betrayed by the gods for being forced to stay with Hades six months out of every year. His disappearance allowed Morpheus, the god of dreams, to take over the mortal realm and cast the gods into a deep slumber. Helios was taken to the Underworld, where Atlas used his power to destroy the Pillar of the World-and with it, the rest of the planet. Before this plan could be fully achieved, the Sun God was saved by Kratos, who defeated Persephone and chained Atlas to the world in the Pillar's place. During the battle with Persephone, Helios was held in Atlas' hand, forming of an orb of light. The ray of sunlight he radiated was used by Kratos to weaken Persephone. After his final battle, an unconscious Kratos was stripped of his items by Helios and Athena. Helios, grateful for Kratos' rescuing him, and showing pity for his sacrifices, suggests helping him further, only for Athena to disagree, claiming that "He'll live. They must." The Second Titanomachy The gods quickly took action to defeat the Titans once again. Helios jumped onto his Sun Chariot and began attacking Gaia, throwing a fireball to prevent Kratos from escaping the undead soldiers that swarmed the Titan's shoulder. Afterwards, Helios was also seen battling the Titan of Destruction, Perses, and successfully dislodging him from the mountain. Helios again confronted Perses on the slopes of Olympia, holding an advantage over the Titan because of the blinding light he emitted. He occasionally aided the minions of Olympus fighting Kratos, throwing fireballs into the area. After having fought his way through the hordes, Kratos used a ballista to damage Helios' Sun Chariot, causing him to fly straight into Perses' hand. The Titan then crushed Helios with his Chariot, and threw him far into the city. Kratos continued to hunt Helios down and eventually found him, injured and unable to lift himself off the ground. A battalion of Olympus Guardians desperately attempted to protect their god, forming a circular phalanx around him. Being unable to shatter their Onyx shields with his weapons, Kratos controlled a Cyclops to break through the ranks, crushing the phalanx, after which he killed the Cyclops by brutally ripping out its eye. Helios, pleading for his life, reminded Kratos of the debt he owed the mortal for saving him years ago, and promised to repay Kratos if his life was to be spared. Kratos immediately demanded the location of The Flames of Olympus. Helios stated he would never reach it, subsequently unleashing the power of the sun, in an attempt to blind Kratos. Kratos however, was able to block the light with his hands and slowly advance toward him and smash Helios' head repeatedly under his boot. Helios then lies to Kratos by saying that Kratos would have to embrace the Flames of Olympus to defeat Zeus, only to have Kratos angrily revealed that Hephaestus had already told him about the flame and how it was both harmful to gods and mortals. Helios expressed shock at Kratos trusting the words of Hephaestus, labeling the smith as an exiled freak who had fallen from the graces of Olympus. Kratos then declared that was exactly why he believed Hephaestus in the first place. Failing to convince Kratos, and with a final gaze at the Spartan, Helios told Kratos his death would not lead him to Zeus, only for Kratos to reply that he was wrong. The Spartan then grabbed his head, and delivered a smashing blow to the back of the god's neck. Leaning back with all his might, Kratos then brutally ripped the god's head off, and used it to detect secrets and blind enemies. Helios' death blotted out the sun and caused worldwide darkness and storms. Powers & Abilities As the God of the Sun, Helios has many powers that revolve around the element fire and light. Helios is able to control fire, using it to his will. Examples include: *Helios launching fireballs at his enemies. *His Steeds and his Chariot being covered in flames, granting them great speed. *Unleashing a powerful beam that could blind enemies, and brighten up even the darkest of places. *The Sun Shield, which he can use to deflect projectiles thrown at him. *As an Olympian, Helios had the common God powers, including immortality, teleportation, invincibility, and superhuman strength. *As an omniscient deity, Helios also witnessed the adultery of Aphrodite with Ares, and the abduction of Persephone by the God of The Underworld, Hades. Trivia * He is voiced by Dwight Schultz in Chains of Olympus and by Crispin Freeman in God of War III, where his face is also modeled after Freeman's. * In Chains of Olympus, Helios' abduction led to the disappearance of the Sun from the sky. In God of War III, Kratos killed Helios by ripping his head off, causing the sun to be blocked by dark clouds, and an endless torrent of rain to pour down, then followed by thunderstorms and tornadoes. In the demo version, after Kratos rips Helios' head off, the sky seems spared from any changes. * Right in front of Helios, while lying wounded on the rooftop, lies the Sun Shield Kratos used in Chains of Olympus, which can be retrieved as a Godly Possession. * As Kratos stated, Helios' death actually did lead him to Zeus, since he used the god's head as a lantern to light his way through Olympus. * Helios was likely infected with Deceit, as he lied to Kratos about stepping into the Flame of Olympus in order to kill Zeus. But Kratos was already aware that the Flame kills both humans and gods. * Even though appearing in very few mythology stories, he was still regarded as the sun god, even having the Colossus of Rhodes built in his image on the eponymous island, where he was worshiped and said to be born. * Helios and his sisters, Eos and Selene are cousins of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia, since both Hyperion and Cronos were brothers. * Differences exist between Helios as seen in the God of War III demo, and the retail version. In the demo, when facing Kratos, Helios never spoke, as opposed to the retail version. * In God of War II ending cutscene, where Zeus gathers his fellow Gods to face Kratos' threats, Helios costume is a little different than the beginning of God of War III. Example, Helios isn't wearing any helmet at the end of God of War II, but in the beginning of God of War III, he is. * Helios' outfit at the end of God of War II is slightly appear much darker than God of War III. * Similar to Athena, Helios once sided with Kratos, aiding him in his quest to stop Persephone. They later turned against him when Kratos sought to kill Zeus after being betrayed. *If one looks carefully, Helios appears to have the edges of a sun tattoo showing over his breast-plate. *Helios is a titan but is seen as a god in God of War III. Kratos knocks Helios out of his chariot while the gods defend Olympus and the Titans attack it. Since Helios is siding with Olympus it is stating he is a god and not a titan. Gallery 500x helios head rip.jpg 6a00d83505e2d853ef00e54f2638ad8834-500wi.jpg|Helios' Chariot Colossus 2.jpg|The Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of Helios God-of-War-III-final5.jpg Gow3big 1135.jpg|Helios' Shield Helio's head.jpg Helios1--screenshot viewer medium.jpg HeliosBeam.JPG Helios MTOlympus.PNG Neckrip1--screenshot viewer medium.jpg Tartarus shield01.jpg Untitled 13.png Helios-full decapitation.jpg Headofhelios-453x300.jpg Helios (comics).jpg Helios statue.jpg|Helios' statue, encountered in the Garden of the Gods Helios_1.jpg Related Pages *Helios' Chariot *Temple of Helios *Colossus of Rhodes *Head of Helios *Fire Steeds: Boreas, Eurus, Notus, Zephyrus Category:Characters Category:Gods Category:God of War:Chains of Olympus Category:God of War II Category:God of War III Category:God of War (Comics) Category:Enemies Category:Allies Category:Bosses Category:God of War Series Category:God of War Collection Category:God of War Origins Collection